Potentially good news everyone. I got a note on my door today that a "large package from Tokyo" arrived for me. However, since no one was home and it was from a foreign country, the idiotic postman decided to bring it back to the post office. It's currently in transit, so I cant access it until 3 hours from now. However, by then we will know whether it's a) an actual response from Miura b) a rejection letter from Hakusenshac) an "address could not be reached" from the Tokyo Mail Serviced) a new Berserk artbook hand drawn by Miura, signed "For my #1 fans at SKnet."

I'm hoping for either a or d personally. Ill update with a double post here if necessary in t-minus 2.5 hours.

The letter is apparently not directly from Miura, but it appears whoever wrote the letter (an associate of his at Hakusensha by the look of it) went through Miura to answer nearly all if not ALL of our questions.

It will take time to translate it, and will require the work of our members here. But on first glance, there are many numbers and letters that I can tell indicate the following:

-the series is estimated to be 60-70 percent complete-3-4 years have passed since the end of the Golden Age, (which makes Guts 22-23; 1-2 years older than we previously knew) -and it has always been FALCON, not Hawk.

I can't believe we got a real response. The odds for this were incalculably low. Im honored beyond words that someone at Hakusensha took time out of their busy schedule and Miura's to answer these questions for us.

I must say it is unfortunate that this breakthrough and historic moment in SKnet's history comes to us the day after April Fool's day and our prank here. I'm sure this information will give many of our members here, who have been fooled by our little pranks in the past, some pause. However, in all of our previous April Fool's gags and even our Aolsier jokes, we have never promised that they were real. We just went along with the jokes.

But this is not something I would joke about. This is real. I swear on all the years of my life and on my title as administrator of SkullKnight.net that this is real. The following are full-resolution pictures of the letter and package I received, along with my desk. Run tests on them if you'd like to attempt to disprove their legitimacy. They are unaltered except that I blurred out my home address.

It was sent by Akira Shimada, Berserk's editor at Hakusensha. Among other things, it specifically states that Miura very rarely replies to letters and that this response was sent as a special service to foreign fans. Anyway, great stuff all around. I'm usually not the type to brag, but... SK.net, #1 Berserk fan site now and forever.

This is so exciting for berserk fans everywhere. I want to issue a huge congratulations to all of the admins and everyone else who had a hand in making this happen. Your hard work definitely paid off. I really want to thank all of you for having the gusto to put see the whole thing through to the end even when there was no guarantee that your hard work would be rewarded. Bravo!

This is unbelievably cool. Words can't even express how awesome this is, but so far everyone has done a good job. Thanks to everyone who worked on this and a HUGE thanks to Miura for taking time out of his insane schedule to answer these questions for us. I can't wait to read the translations.

This is absolutely incredible, Walter! Congratulations on getting a reply. I'll admit. When the idea of sending Miura questions first came up, I was a bit reserved. But Fortune really does favor the bold, eh? This is so cool!

I thought the same as soon as I ripped open the package and saw 60-70% [complete] written there in front of me. It was at that moment I knew this was real. Miura has acknowledged we exist

As for drinking, all I did tonight was stay up to fix my scanner and have a preliminary translation and Japanese text ready to go for the translators, so I'm exhausted (4 hours until work too). But TONIGHT I will drink heavily from our several remaining wine bottles and think of you guys.

This is absolutely incredible, Walter! Congratulations on getting a reply. I'll admit. When the idea of sending Miura questions first came up, I was a bit reserved. But Fortune really does favor the bold, eh? This is so cool!

This letter is written in the easiest possible form of Japanese, but Iím worried that it might not be understood well.

I should let you know that all the answers are based on the recent episodes published in Young Animal.

Q1: To the readers, Guts as a character has grown tremendously in the past few years, but how much time has elapsed in the Berserk world since the end of the Golden Age arc in Volume 14? (i.e. Lost Children - Millennium Falcon)

Iíd say itís been 3-4 years, though itís not been clearly decided.

Q2: Regarding the kanji "Taka," do you intend that to be Falcon or Hawk? Was there ever a conscious change in its usage, such as after Griffith's reincarnation, or has it always been "falcon" to you?

ďFalconĒ or ďHawkĒ, both mean [鷹] in Japanese. In some dictionaries, ďFalcon Ē is translated as [隼(はやぶさ)] but thereís almost no difference. I used "Falcon" from the great name of the ďMillennium Falcon" ship in Star Wars.

Q3: Just before the launch of the Millennium Falcon arc, you were quoted as saying now you felt you were truly on the starting line of the series. Is that accurate? If that is the case, how far along are we in the story at this point?

I think we are at about 60-70%. However, I myself donít know anything for sure when it comes to the future.

Q4: It's been years since the last art book release. There may now be enough content for 2-3 additional books. Do you plan to release any more based on your sketches and paintings?

No, I donít.

Q5: What portion of the story was the most difficult in terms of making hard decisions about where to take the direction of the series? Any regrets?

No specific part was especially difficult or regrettable to me.

Q6: You've talked of post-Berserk projects in the past. Do you still expect to do it, or will you be enjoying retirement after having spent so long working on Berserk?

I donít remember when I talked about my future plans after Berserk, but there's no doubt Iíll work on something else once it's over.

Q7: Do you feel a sense of achievement at what you've accomplished over all those years? Was it worth the sacrifices to your life and health it has required?

Yes, I feel a sense of achievement, since my work has been appreciated more and more over time in society.

Besides, I canít think of living any other life.

Q8: Could you describe an average day in your studio? How many hours each day do you work?

I start working at 2:00 PM and I finish at 7:00 AM. Of course, the time I spend eating is included. I work 15-16 hours everyday, without holidays.

Q9: Can we have some more details on why Episode 83 was left out of the collected volume? Do you consider the events in the episode to be canon? Can we expect to see or hear from the Idea of Evil again before the end of the series?

Itís because I wanted Berserk's world to be revealed just that far, not any more than that. The appearance of god in the manga conclusively determines its range. I thought that might limit the freedom of the story development.

I myself donít know if the Idea of Evil will show up again in the manga or not.

Q10: Rumors of a second season, or new animation of Berserk have been persistent since the first animation's conclusion. These have all been proven false, in time. But to be perfectly sure, are there plans for a continuation of the animation?

Itís possible.

Iíve forwaded all his answers to you, though it took a little time.

Itís very rare for Miura to answer this kind of questions. It would be good if you could think of it as his service for foreign fans like you. And also please keep in mind we canít tell you things for sure about future developments that havenít been scripted yet.

Weíll keep doing our best to meet your expectations for Berserk.

Thank you for your devotion to the manga. I wish you happiness and health.